CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
T
he sun shone through the cracks of the blinds, waking Nikole from her dream state. Her eyes weak and sore from crying all night, she tried to turn her head to the right to see if he was still there. Surprisingly her body did what she wanted. The sunlight gleamed off his golden blonde hair; his smooth, white skin appeared to shimmer in the light. His cheekbones, his arms, his chest, rose and fell with each breath.
“Excuse me?” she whispered, trying to get his attention. “Hello…” He didn’t even move because her voice was so soft. Turning her head to the left, she looked around the room, trying to take in all of the surroundings. She moved her fingers; she felt the sheet next to her leg move. Her fingers were working today. This was good. Feeling the sheet start to bunch in her hands, she cracked a small smile. She could do this; she could sit herself up. She tried to move her arms. Her muscles ached and screamed at her as she bent them at the elbow and started to apply pressure on them. She winced at the pain. Maybe she was trying to do too much too soon.
Feeling the need to keep trying, she wiggled her toes and she watched the sheet move at the end of the bed. She wasn’t paralyzed by fear; she could do this. She needed to be able to get up; it was more important than anything else. She focused on her right leg, mentally telling it to bend, letting out a tiny scream at the pain soaring through her body. She was determined to sit up. Planting her right heel in the bed and bracing her palms on either side of her ribs, she pushed on all three limbs, even as the pain seared her insides. She screamed even as she felt her body moving.
She sat up two inches and lost control, dropping her body back on the bed. “Damn it!” She let out a long deep breath. There had to be a way to get his attention. Turning her head to the side, she looked at him again. She looked at him again, trying to recall if she had seen him before. Did he know who she was? Surely not, if he had he would have called Zayn, wouldn’t he? She let out another breath and heard a small noise. “That’s IT!” she thought. Puckering her lips together and blowing, she heard it, a whistle. Her spirits soared as she licked her lips two times, took a deep breath, and whistled as loud as she could.
Alec shot up in the seat on full alert. Looking around for danger, he realized she was awake.
“You’re awake. Well, how are you feeling?”
She smiled at him, relieved that she could communicate this time and she wouldn’t have to stay in bed forever. “I am feeling better,” she softly said.
“You can talk.” Alec smiled down at her. “That’s great; I am Alec by the way.” He dropped his hand to Nikole’s and gave it a small squeeze.
“I am Nikole.” She breathed in deeply; relieved she could actually be heard.
“Nikole, you have been severely injured. Do you remember us talking about it yesterday?”
She shook her head. “Not really, only something about me being really hurt and in bad shape. The whole thing is a blur.”
Alec looked over her dressings, inspecting the wounds to see how much they had healed. Going to the bathroom and bringing out materials to place new dressings on her arms, he pulled up the chair close to her bedside and started to work. “Well, I am a former EMT for the military. When I retired I bought this land from the King. I have installed security monitors all over the mountain, and when I saw someone in my building, I went to investigate.”
She quietly listened and watched his methodic attention to detail as he cleaned her cuts and burns. “You bought all this from King Zayn? Did you tell him someone was using the building?”
He shook his head at her as he put more ointment on her arm over the stitches to reduce the possibility of a scar. “No, I didn’t call him; I didn’t think I had to. Do you have family looking for you?”
She turned away, tears starting to swell in her eyes. “I do, and Zayn is my akh.”
Alec froze as he heard that. He glanced up from his work and met her eyes. The King’s okht? “You are
the
Princess Nikole?” She nodded slowly looking at his reactions. She tried to speak but he cut her off. “I need to get you home right now. I am sure they are looking everywhere for you.”
She wanted to speak but stopped her thoughts more clear today than yesterday when she woke for the first time. She went against Zayn’s orders and wound up in trouble, captured, tortured. Nikole wasn’t entirely ready to face the hard ramifications of her actions. “No, no, Alec not yet.”
He looked at her confused. “Why don’t you want me to call and get you home?”
Sucking in a breath she whispered, “I am not ready to go back to my akh. This is entirely my fault, and I can’t face him. Not yet.”
Nikole felt her face flush and her emotions started to take over. Her tears ran down her face and she fisted her hands. The pain in her heart was far worse than her body. “I never should have gone after Derrik alone. I went against my akh’s wishes. He….He was right. I was foolish, and now look what I have done. I almost died, and Zayn would have been all alone forever because of me. I can’t see him, not yet. What, what did they do to me?”
Alec took his thumb, wiped away her tears, and calmly started to describe what he saw. “You were strapped to the metal table with metal cuffs. Your legs were seared with something, leaving burns across them. Your arms were cut open; some bone was showing. You have a cut across your body and your face is severely bruised. When I noticed what was going on, it looked like two of your captors were fighting. By the time I got there, one man was gone and one man was dead. A third man looked like he was going to kill you, so I took him out.”
Nikole looked up at him, gratitude and amazement in her eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“If you are the royal family, how did they get you? Rumour has it you can teleport. I never saw Zayn teleport when I fought in his military.”
“I can teleport, and I tried, but somehow something was stopping me. The only thing I thought of at the time was they had someone who had mind control and was blocking me from leaving. Eventually I was just in too much pain to even attempt it.”
He listened to her talk about what happened. The way she looked speaking of the event and her akh, the tears in her eyes, her tragic event. He couldn’t help but admire her spirit and fight. “You can stay here for a bit. We don’t have to call your akh just yet. Do you want to sit up, try a new position? I am sure your body must be stiff from lying like that for two days straight.”
“Yes, that would be great. I tried earlier and hurt myself.” He stood and pulled the covers down just a bit from her shoulders. He slipped his arm behind her body and his hand under her right arm. Slowly lifting her up, he heard her whimper in pain. She tried to hold it in, not wanting him to see her cry anymore. He adjusted her pillow and moved her hair from her face. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he repositioned the covers around her lower half.
“Is that better?”
“Yes thank you. may I have some water? My throat hurts and I think I should rest it.”
He nodded and headed to get her some water from the kitchen. Bringing her back the drink, he sat down in the chair. “Would you like me to give you some privacy or would you like anything else?”
“Can you stay? Maybe we could watch some television or listen to music. I want to try and walk, but I’m tired. Maybe later we can see if I can move.”
He went to his dresser and turned on the radio. The sound of Beethoven floated through the room. He then came to the other side of the bed and sat on top of the covers. Leaning back against the headboard, they both sat there, listening to the music. Nikole closed her eyes and tried to let the music soothe her soul and the pain she was feeling. She angled her body until she found his shoulder, she laid her head down letting it rest on him, finally feeling some comfort. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he took his hand and grasped Nikole’s. They sat like that until they both fell asleep.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Z
ayn woke up on the floor of his room. He had drunk himself into a stupor over the idea of never seeing Nikole again. He grabbed his head; he felt the pounding, and he could hear his heart beating loud, the sounds echoing in his mind. Rolling over slowly, he started to pull himself up on the edge of the bed. The walls were spinning and his body was aching. He still wasn’t sure what happened last night. He positioned himself on the bed, propped himself against the bedpost, and noticed all of his pictures were broken.
“What the hell…?”
He surveyed the damage done to the room last night; glass everywhere, picture frames broken, even his favorite chair in pieces. What could he have possibly done to make such a mess? Looking down to his left, he saw two empty bottles of scotch. Well fuck that would do it. How could he have been so stupid? People depended on him to lead, to make the right decisions. He couldn’t lose his composure like that and let others see him falling apart. Zayn looked at the time, 10 am; he needed to get up… he had decisions to make today.
He forced his way to the bathroom, each step he took, his body fought, muscles sore, limbs tight. Turning the water on, he let the steam of the heat build. Stripping his clothes off, he stepped in under the stream of water. Feeling the warmth beat on his back and his neck, he then accepted the fact that he couldn’t change what happened. He couldn’t fix the damage that was done. It was time to man up, time to fight, and time to find Nikole and bring her home.
Outside of his room, Adara laid her head against her door, staring at the frame. She wanted to check on him, she wanted to make sure the screaming she’d heard last night hadn’t been him hurting himself.
He’s the King; he doesn’t need someone checking on him. Right? But what if he does? What if he is hurt? I should check on him; he won’t mind.
Adara mumbled to herself. Unable to resist any longer, she walked to the door and knocked. She waited a few minutes, nothing. She knocked again. She knew he should be up; it was too late for him to be sleeping still.
Adara slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open. “Zayn?” Looking through a cracked door, she saw glass and wood shavings on the ground. Feeling fear inside at what condition he might be in, she opened the door fully and stepped inside. She saw the destruction, the empty scotch bottles and the whirlwind of a mess that lay across the King’s room. Turning toward the direction of the bathroom, she saw his silhouette reflecting off the shower curtain. She took in his body, large shoulders, slender waist, and thick arms. Oh good lord. The man was built. She just wanted to make sure he was okay, right? That was all, she kept telling herself as she took a seat in the chair behind the desk, absorbing her surroundings. She heard a small crack, and then moments later, she was planted on the floor. The chair gave out on her; looking to it she saw one of the legs had broken off entirely.
Zayn heard a crash coming from his room and shut off the water before pulling the curtain back and running into the room, knife in hand. “Adara! What are you doing in here?”
She looked up at him; basking in his naked wet body. “Zayn, I….”
He knelt beside her and looked her over; she couldn’t stop eyeing his dark, olive, sun kissed skin. “Are you hurt Adara?”
She shook her head no, watching him stand as he reached for her arms. He took her hands and pulled her to him. “What are you doing in here anyway?”
Adara gulped and took a breath. “I wanted to check on you. When I didn’t hear a response to my knock I got worried, so I cracked the door to look. I saw the broken glass and got worried for your safety, so I came in. There was the mess in the whole room, a total disaster, it was overwhelming. I had to sit down. And then, I was watching you…In the shower. Then the chair gave out on me. I had planned on leaving before you knew I was here.” Unable to help herself again, she looked over his body, wanting to touch him. Zayn realized he was standing in the middle of his bedroom, naked, with a woman he wanted to be inside of.
He ran his hand up her arm, her neck, then along her jaw. “You were concerned for me?” He watched her nod, her lips slowly separating, and the tips of her fangs showing. She started to speak when he put his finger over her lips to silence her. “Shhh.” He looked to the bed and could see it was a mess, but there was no broken furniture on it. He started walking them toward the edge of the bed, his left hand wrapping around her, guiding her. He sat her down on the edge, looking down at her.
“How were you going to comfort me, Adara?” Running his thumb over her left cheek, he couldn’t stop staring at her lips; she colored them in a red gloss. They shimmered in the light, mesmerizing him.
“I just wanted to hold you if…” She stopped to take a breath, and in that instant, he leaned down, capturing her lips, kissing her. Their tongues intertwined against one another’s in an erotic dance, hunger blooming within them. She let her hands roam over his chest, then his abs before they slid up his sides to his spine. He pushed her back, laying her on the bed. He held his weight up with both hands planted on either side of her.
“If?” he teased while kissing down her delicate neck.
“If you wanted me to,” she said softly, leaning her head to the side, welcoming him. He let his hands run up her body, under her shirt, and over her skin. Sitting up, he pulled off her shirt, tossing it to the side, and then started to pull her skirt up.
“Yes, I want you, Adara. I have for a while.” Kissing her again, not letting her speak, he claimed her lips and slowly started to tease her entrance. Murmuring into her mouth, he dropped one hand to her ass, lifting her up, slowly taking her. She now belonged to him.
He took his hand and cupped her breast as he teased her nipple gently with his fingers, watching her face. She closed her eyes and moaned at his soft touch. Taking his mouth, he kissed the luscious mound and teased it with his tongue. His fangs scraped across her skin, sending chills down her body. Kissing across her chest, he captured the other nipple, biting on it. She moaned feeling his sharp teeth against her flesh.
Her nails running down his back, she pushed up against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. She was marking him as he took her over and over. She watched his lips suck on her nipple, his hand still on her ass, squeezing and holding her to him. She arched her chest into him, crying out as his thrusts got quicker and harder. She let out cries of pleasure as his name slipped off her tongue.
He felt his body reacting to her need. He couldn’t help the overwhelming sensation to claim her as only his. He had to mark her; he had to take her every way possible. Seeing her face flushed with color, he claimed her mouth before sitting up. Looking down at her body, he ran his hand over her chest. His strong arms reached down and lifted her up, turning her over. She looked over her shoulder at him as his fierce eagerness started to consume them both. He wrapped his hand in her hair and pulled her to his chest. He took his fangs and sank them into her neck, drawing the blood out into his mouth as he entered her.
Sucking and thrusting in alternating beats over and over, Adara panted out a cry as her hands reached up and held his head to her neck. His free hand wrapped around her waist, dragging his nails across her stomach. Her body responded to his needs as they both released. She milked him, her walls sheathing him, taking everything he had to offer. He let go of her neck and cried out, “Adara!” Seeing the blood drip down her back, he licked her clean and sealed the wound as they fell onto the bed. Tangled up in each other, they felt their hearts beat in unison.